When a game modder found a piece of locked away code within the 2004 blockbuster Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and produced patches to unlock it, who would have thought it would cost Take-Two and its insurers $20 million. Since the patch was released, Rockstar became the target of politicians such as Hillary Clinton, and the game was given an AO (Adult Only) rating instead of it’s previous M rating due to the “strong sexual content” it then included.
Store shelves were re-stocked with copies of the game that did not include the unlockable code, which then carried the M rating. Now, five years after the this happened, Take-Two and its insurers have agreed to pay $20 million ($4,915,000 from Take-Two and $15,200,000 from its insurers) to settle a class action lawsuit that stemmed from the controversy.
“We are pleased to have reached this settlement, which represents another important step forward for the company,” said Strauss Zelnick, chairman of Take-Two, in a brief statement.
Result for: controversy
ESA CEO Mike Gallagher has spoken out this week about both piracy and DRM in the gaming industry, and GamePolitics has made a nice summary of his remarks.
In regards to piracy:
“Piracy is a scourge. Piracy is theft, plain and simple, of the intellectual property and the creativity and the energy of the investors in this industry and the artists who make the great games. Period. Okay?”
“It’s a problem of such degree that it’s between two and three billion dollars a year that it costs our industry in this country alone. When you look at piracy across all of entertainment, it’s a much bigger number when you put in movies and look what it’s done to the music industry. So, the going-in proposition has to be a recognition that piracy is wrong, it’s illegal and it should be stopped…”
In regards to DRM:
“There are business models that say, ‘You know, we’re going to build our business model around giving it away for free and having the revenue come in in other ways.’ We [in the video game business] do that too. We do that too. But for those companies who go forward, they’re entitled to protect - using DRM - to protect their content. And I realize that it is a subject of some controversy with gamers and consumers because, like other similar types of devices, most often they negatively impact the law-abiding gamer.
“But it’s one of those things that we have to be vigilant about. It’s vitally important to preserve the ecosystem and the jobs in the industry and the next great game. If you don’t make money off of the games that are made now you’re not going to see the ones that come later like you saw at the press briefings already at E3.”
Result for: controversy
Concert promotion giant Live Nation and ticketing juggernaut Ticketmaster are planning to merge into a single company. The new company, which they intend to call Live Nation Entertainment, would arguably be the single most powerful force in the US live music business. And that is why it wlil be getting an enourmous amount of attention from the Federal Governmment before they allow it to happen.
Ticketmaster’s near-monopoly of ticket sales in major US concert venues in the 1990 was the subject of more than a little controversy. During that time Pearl Jam famously boycotted Ticketmaster-served venues in protest of the service fees they charge for each ticket.
More recently Bruce Springsteen has railed against the company for allegedly redirecting ticket buyers to the website of a subsidiary, which then charges an additional markup beyond the standard price.
In the last few years Live Nation has managed to become a serious competitor in the ticketing business. Last year they also made headlines by sgning Madonna to a so-called 360 deal, which involved a three album deal with Live Nation owning the albums as well as all merchandise rights and tour profits in exchange for $120 million.
